Well put @SnowflakeHoney, jsa’s, swms’s are all too common nowadays. Inductions, don’t get me started.
I guess it shows concern though…
Couple of things. How did you happen to have 2 extinguishers on hand?
And, when you say they had to cut off your bee suit do you mean singlet, shorts and thongs?

Jack… not sure if I should be answering you on this thread… but it is a Warre hive, with windows in the back. It has been fascinating watching the bees work, really great fun.
I followed the plans that David Heaf Pete out on his website. Well worth a look.
All the best for the new year.
Sue

Peter, what an experience!! Your poor hands I’m very glad to hear you’re recovering okay but so sorry for everything you went through. It’s amazing how fast things can go wrong from a simple mistake. You’re very thoughtful to share it with everyone and I know that your story will help many of us take extra precautions from now on.

Peter48:

I have arranged for a pair of hands from a lady

Well, all I can say is that it’s amazing what they can do with grafting nowadays…they may not match the rest of you, but should work fine and feel nice too

This was a matter of ‘borrowing’ two fire extinguishers from the Men’s Shed that is where my apiary is. The shed was in a ‘day off’ situation but I had opened it to get a drink of water when I got there.

skeggley:

And, when you say they had to cut off your bee suit do you mean singlet, shorts and thongs?

This is strictly between you and me. The bee suit was a gonner but the lady ambo (early 20’s and a stunner, wish I was 40 years younger ) needed to get my body core temperature down fast so everything else was off to.
Cheers

Sorry you misunderstood my meaning. The spare pair of hands are still attached to a lady bee keeper that I set up some time ago. She jumped in and offered to help till I can do the handling of things myself. She has really got into bee keeping and foregone painting her finger nails I am actually proud of her abilities with her bees.
Cheers

My heart felt thanks to you all for the support. Even Busso refrained from making up a joke about the situation.
The prognosis is really good for a speedy recovery back to near normal. I can’t wait to get back to the honey extraction that had to be put on hold.
A happy new year to all of you…
Cheers

I’ve always been nervous about sparks from the smoker, so I always jam a handful of fresh wet grass on top of the fuel (usually wood shavings) to capture any sparks. I realize in some parts of the world though fresh grass in the heat of the summer may be hard to come by.

I love the idea of a cap on a chain, and will add it to my winter prep list.

It always seems to be nice new cars that experience such extreme accidents, never the old clunkers!

Yes, I originally had magnificent service from a Hyundai Sonata then with over nearly 200K miles on the clock I upgraded to a Hyundai Tucson which was the ‘fire car’. I have replaced it with the same model again. It is ideal for what I need for bee keeping and general use.
More sobering: I was told by the fire brigade captain mine was the second ‘bee related fire’ in two weeks. The first began in an apiary from a smoker igniting grass with the loss of 6 hives.

That IS a sobering thought Peter. I’m aware of how hot the bottom can get, I never put it on the wheelie bin, (which is next to some hives) without putting something on the lid first. I was using wood shavings for a while, however small bits of hot ash kept coming out of the air intake tube & burning little holes in my bee suit whenever I tried to increase the smoke. Needless to say, I put a stop to that. It just shows you how potentially dangerous bee smokers can be.

What are you using as smoker fuel now Jeff?
I am trying the “herbal pellets” I found on EBay but their ‘burn time’ is around 20 minutes so I don’t think they are the answer when a half dozen pellets are needed for a good volume of smoke.
Cheers